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Early Church Leadership

How local elders and overseers became bishops and how Rome’s bishop rose to prominence, with the claim that Simon Magus founded a counterfeit church in Rome.

Should the church have a pope?

In the New Testament, each church was led by a group of elders, also called overseers, with deacons to serve. Paul called “the elders of the church” at Ephesus and told them the Holy Ghost had made them “overseers” of the flock (Acts 20:17, 28), and he told Titus to “ordain elders in every city” (Titus 1:5). The two titles name the same people, and no source from the period calls anyone bishop over more than one church[source 5][source 7].

Christ alone is head of the church: “Christ is the head of the church” (Ephesians 5:23), “the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). Peter, to whom Jesus promised the keys (Matthew 16:19), wrote to the elders as “also an elder” and pointed them to “the chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:1, 4). He ruled no one: at the council in Jerusalem, James gave the judgment (Acts 15:13–19), and at Antioch Paul “withstood him to the face” (Galatians 2:11).

The single bishop and the papacy came later. Single bishops first appear in Ignatius’s letters around 110[source 6], and Rome seems to have been led by a group of presbyters until the mid-second century[source 8][source 9]. When Victor of Rome tried to cut off the churches of Asia around 190, other bishops, Irenaeus among them, rebuked him[source 12].

So we hold to the pattern Scripture gives: elders in each church, serving under Christ, the chief Shepherd. Many Christians read Matthew 16 and the early lists of bishops differently[source 9], and we offer this as a conviction to weigh, not a test of anyone’s faith.

Historical origin

In the New Testament, local churches are led by groups of elders (presbyteroi) and overseers (episkopoi), with deacons assisting, and the two leading titles are used of the same people (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5–7). In Jerusalem, James the brother of Jesus led alongside the elders (Acts 15:13–21; 21:18), and later tradition remembered him as the city’s first bishop[source 4]. Timothy and Titus were sent to appoint elders in the churches (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1:5). Around 96 the letter known as 1 Clement, sent from the church in Rome to Corinth, speaks of “bishops and deacons” appointed by the apostles and their successors, and calls the same leaders presbyters[source 5]. The Didache likewise tells churches to “appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons”[source 7].

Around 110, the letters of Ignatius of Antioch show a single bishop presiding over each church in Asia Minor, with presbyters and deacons under him[source 6]. His letter to the Romans names no bishop there, though it greets the Roman church as the one that “presides over love”[source 10], and many historians conclude that Rome was led by a group of presbyters until the mid-second century[source 8][source 9].

Around 180, Irenaeus of Lyon listed the bishops of Rome from the apostles Peter and Paul through Linus to his own day, to show that the apostles’ teaching had been handed on in public, and wrote that every church should agree with Rome “on account of its preeminent authority”[source 2]. Second-century writers place the deaths of Peter and Paul in Rome: Dionysius of Corinth and the Roman presbyter Gaius, both quoted by Eusebius[source 4]. 1 Clement, written from Rome, recalls their martyrdoms[source 5], and Ignatius tells the Romans, “I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you”[source 10]. Around 190, Victor of Rome tried to cut off the churches of Asia over the date of Easter, and other bishops, Irenaeus among them, sharply rebuked him[source 12].

Simon Magus appears in Acts 8:9–24 as a Samaritan sorcerer who believed and was baptized, then offered money for the power to give the Holy Spirit; rebuked by Peter, he asked Peter to pray for him. The word simony comes from him. Second-century writers made him the father of heresy. Justin Martyr, himself from Samaria, wrote that Simon came to Rome under Claudius and was honored there as a god with a statue[source 3], and Irenaeus called him the one from whom “all sorts of heresies” derive[source 1]. Later legends, retold by Eusebius, describe Peter confronting Simon in Rome[source 4].

Timeline

  1. c. 35Simon the sorcerer is baptized in Samaria and rebuked by Peter (Acts 8).
  2. c. 64–67Peter and Paul are put to death in Rome, according to early tradition.
  3. c. 961 Clement, from the church in Rome, describes bishops and deacons appointed by the apostles.
  4. c. 110Ignatius’s letters show a single bishop leading each church in Asia Minor.
  5. c. 155Justin Martyr writes that Rome honored Simon Magus with a statue.
  6. c. 180Irenaeus lists Rome’s bishops from Linus and calls Simon the source of heresies.
  7. c. 325Eusebius retells the legend of Peter confronting Simon in Rome.
  8. 1574An inscription to the Sabine god Semo Sancus is found on Rome’s Tiber island.

In scripture

  • Acts 8:9–24

    Simon the sorcerer is baptized, then offers money for the power to give the Holy Spirit and is rebuked by Peter.

  • Matthew 16:17–19

    Jesus tells Peter, “upon this rock I will build my church,” and promises him the keys of the kingdom.

  • Acts 20:17–28

    Paul calls the elders of Ephesus and tells them the Holy Spirit made them overseers.

  • Titus 1:5–7

    Titus is to ordain elders in every city; Paul goes on, “For a bishop must be blameless.”

  • 1 Peter 5:1–4

    Peter addresses the elders as “also an elder.”

The early church, AD 30–100

Between AD 30 and 100, the sources show apostles and traveling prophets, and local elders or overseers with deacons (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1–13; 1 Peter 5:1–4)[source 5][source 7]. No source from the period uses “bishop” for an office over more than one church, and none connects Simon Magus with any church office.

Popular claims

Each claim is rated against the evidence. About the ratings

  • “Simon Magus went to Rome posing as an apostle and founded a counterfeit Christianity that became the Catholic Church.”

    Contradicted

    Acts shows Simon baptized and then rebuked by Peter (Acts 8:13–24); Justin, Irenaeus and Eusebius treat him as an opponent of the church and the source of heresies, not a leader within it[source 1][source 3][source 4]. No ancient source places him in the leadership of the Roman church or any other, or identifies him with Peter or Rome’s early bishops.

  • “Rome honored Simon Magus as a god with a statue.”

    Unverified

    Justin Martyr reports a statue on the Tiber island inscribed “Simoni Deo Sancto”[source 3]. In 1574 an inscription beginning “SEMONI SANCO DEO FIDIO,” to the Sabine god Semo Sancus, was found on that island[source 11], and many historians think Justin misread a dedication of this kind. No other evidence for a statue of Simon survives.

  • “Peter was the first bishop of Rome.”

    Debated

    Irenaeus names Peter and Paul as the founders of the Roman church and Linus as its first bishop[source 2]; later lists count Peter first. Peter’s presence and death in Rome are widely accepted[source 4][source 5], but many historians doubt that Rome had a single bishop in the first century at all[source 8][source 9].

  • “Each church was led by a single bishop from the start.”

    Contradicted

    Within single churches, the New Testament and 1 Clement name plural elders or overseers (Philippians 1:1; Acts 20:17, 28)[source 5], and single bishops appear in Ignatius’s letters around 110[source 6]; James’s leadership in Jerusalem is the main early exception[source 4]. Historians across traditions, Catholic ones included, describe a gradual development[source 8][source 9]. Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican teaching holds that the episcopate is nonetheless apostolic, while Reformed and free-church traditions see the single bishop as post-biblical; that disagreement is about the development’s legitimacy, not whether it happened.

Sources

  1. Irenaeus. Against Heresies 1.23. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  2. Irenaeus. Against Heresies 3.3. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  3. Justin Martyr. First Apology 26. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  4. Eusebius. Church History 2.1, 2.13–15, 2.23, 2.25. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  5. Clement of Rome. 1 Clement 5, 42–44. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, via New Advent. Link to this source
  6. Ignatius of Antioch. Letter to the Magnesians 6–7. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  7. The Didache 15. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, via New Advent. Link to this source
  8. Lampe, Peter. From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries. Translated by Michael Steinhauser. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Link to this source
  9. Sullivan, Francis A. From Apostles to Bishops: The Development of the Episcopacy in the Early Church. New York: Newman Press, 2001.
  10. Ignatius of Antioch. Letter to the Romans, preface and 4. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source
  11. Dedication to Semo Sancus, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum VI 567, found on the Tiber island in 1574.
  12. Eusebius. Church History 5.24. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 1, via New Advent. Link to this source

Last reviewed October 25, 2026.